smd460

Simian Mobile Disco- Temporary Pleasure

 

 

After releasing their debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release in 2007, Simian Mobile Disco have gone on to become the unlikeliest pair of geeky superstar DJs in the world. While that album might not have quite been ingrained into the minds and dance floors of a generation in the same way as, say, the debut from Justice, it definitely occupied a firm and happy place in many a hardcore clubber and music fan alike.

So, after honing their live show to absolute perfection over the past couple of years, have they managed to do the same with the recorded side of things?

Temporary Pleasure, surprisingly, doesn’t start with some sort of mad, acid house stomper but, instead, opts for something slightly different. ‘Cream Dream’ is a slick slice of electro pop perfection. Featuring the near heavenly guest vocals of Gruff Rhys, the song wobbles with delicate synths before the beat drops neatly into sync to create something of a crossbreed between an 80s power rock song fit to soundtrack The Breakfast Club and the sound of Daft Punk headlining the whole of France…Basically, it’s a right old four minutes.

‘Cream Dream’ is actually a pretty good representative of the album as a whole. Flitting happily between bassy, dirty club stompers to roll your eyes revoltingly around your head to and moments of wonderfully pure pop is something Temporary Pleasures excels at throughout without ever losing continuity. 

It’s hard sometimes to remember you’re not in a club when playing this album. Listening to ‘10000 Horses Can’t be Wrong’, for example, you can positively feel the strobe lights mesmerizing you, the E’d up twat stood next to you bumping you every other beat and the wave of arms going crazy as the song stops prematurely before dropping back in with an almighty pounding of bass.

On the other side of things, Simian Mobile Disco have still got the dance pop on lock down. ‘Turn Up The Dial’ sounds like a drum ‘n’ bass remix of a Flo Rider song and it’s pretty damn hard not to love every disgustingly RnB flecked second of it.

Another of the album’s highlights is the Alexis Taylor (of Hot Chip) appearance on ‘Badblood’. The song fits Taylor’s voice so perfectly, perhaps because of it’s absolutely bonkers nature. From the jumpy synths to what sounds like little snippets of a didgeridoo player on acid, the song fits the singer like a glove. Similarly, the inclusion of Beth Ditto’s sultry vocals on ‘Cruel Intentions’ is, to make a wild understatement, a fine choice. The song bubbles along sexily like a 90s house anthem only spruced up with the relevant sounds of a late nouties dance song.

Overall, Temporary Pleasure is an excellent, fully formed and exciting album. Simian Mobile Disco, once again, prove they are masters in effortlessly genre hopping, providing an album to soundtrack a thousand different occasions and all the time keeping a great sense of ambition and intrigue. It’s a real, real strain to keep away from using a dodgy pun involving the title of this album, but- to put it simply- this is a collection of songs which won’t get old any time soon.